The EU is "fully invested" in reaching a deal with the United States to avoid sweeping tariffs, the bloc's trade chief said, after US judges ruled the controversial measures were unconstitutional.
"Our time and effort fully invested, as delivering forward-looking solutions remains a top EU priority. Staying in permanent contact," EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on X after a call yesterday with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
But Mr Šefčovič did not make any comment on the court drama in the US.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the US Court of International Trade had barred most of the tariffs announced since US President Donald Trump took office, but an appeals court the next day preserved his sweeping import duties on China and other trading partners.
The short-term relief will now allow the appeals process to proceed.
Mr Šefčovič has previously said he had calls with his US trade counterparts last Friday, Saturday and on Monday as the two sides intensify talks after last week's tensions.
Mr Trump threatened last Friday, but then postponed, to hit EU goods with a huge tariff, voicing frustration that talks with the EU were "going nowhere".
Read more: Which tariffs did a US court block and what happens now?
Mr Trump unveiled sweeping import duties on nearly all trading partners in April, at a baseline 10% - plus steeper levies on dozens of economies including China and the EU, which have since been paused.
The US court's ruling also quashes duties that Mr Trump imposed on Canada, Mexico and China separately using emergency powers. But it leaves intact 25% duties on imported autos, steel and aluminium.
Trump signals fresh trade tensions with China
US President Donald Trump today signalled renewed trade tensions with China, arguing that Beijing had "violated" a deal to de-escalate tariffs, at a time when both sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations.
Trump's post on his Truth Social platform came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks with China were "a bit stalled," in an interview with broadcaster Fox News.
The world's two biggest economies had agreed this month to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days, after talks between top officials in Geneva.
But Trump wrote today that: "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US," without providing further details.
Asked about the post on CNBC, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer took aim at Beijing for continuing to "slow down and choke off things like critical minerals."
He added that the US trade deficit with China "continues to be enormous," and that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing's behaviour.
Bessent had suggested yesterday that Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could get involved in the situation.
He said there could be a call between both leaders eventually.
Since Trump returned to the presidency in January, he has imposed sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners, with especially high rates on imports from China.
New tit-for-tat levies from both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation earlier this month, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce its additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%.
China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125% to 10%.
The US tariff level remains higher as it also includes a 20% levy that the Trump administration recently imposed on Chinese goods over the country's alleged role in the illicit drug trade - an issue that Beijing has pushed back against.
The high tariff levels, while they were still in place, forced much trade between both countries to grind to a halt, as businesses paused shipments to try and wait for both governments to reach an agreement to lower the levies.
Trump's tariff plans are also facing legal challenges.
A trade court ruled this week that the president overstepped his authority in tapping emergency economic powers to justify sweeping tariffs.
It blocked the most wide-ranging levies since Trump returned to office, although this ruling has since been put on hold for now as an appeals process is ongoing.
The ruling left intact, however, tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on sector-specific imports such as steel and cars.
